Israeli Troops Kill 3 in W. Bank, Close Universities (Jan. 16)

Israeli Soldiers Kill Two Palestinians (Jan. 19)

Gunman, Israeli Settler Die in Raid (Jan. 18)

In the first two cases, Israelis are the perpetrators, and the headlines are
straightforward and identify the Israelis as the actors. In contrast, in the
third headline, readers would be very hard-pressed to actually understand what
had transpired here. A Palestinian murdered an Israeli settler in his home, and
was killed in the process. Why isnt this headline as clear as the other
two? It might have read:

Palestinian gunman kills Israeli in raid

In the past, a Los Angles Times representative has said that because
the word "Palestinian" is longer than "Israeli" it is more
often dropped from the headlines. But, when Palestinians are the victims, such
as in the second case, the word "Palestinian" usually fits.

The repeated obscuring of Palestinian perpetration of violence will surely
skew readers understanding of the conflict.